Mike Bossy

Michael "Mike" Bossy, hockey player (b at Montreal 22 Jan 1957). After starring for the Laval Nationals in junior, Bossy joined the New York Islanders in 1977-78.

Bossy, Michael

Michael "Mike" Bossy, hockey player (b at Montreal 22 Jan 1957). After starring for the Laval Nationals in junior, Bossy joined the New York Islanders in 1977-78. He scored 53 goals that year, becoming the first rookie in National Hockey League history to record a 50-goal-season, a feat that earned him the Calder Trophy. He proved this was not a fluke by registering 50 or more goals for each of the next eight seasons, including a remarkable 50 goals in the first 50 games of the 1980-81 season, equalling the 26-year-old record established by Maurice RICHARD.

His prolific scoring propelled the Islanders to four consecutive STANLEY CUPS (1980-83) and earned him the CONN SMYTHE TROPHY in 1982. His 85 play-off goals was a league record when he retired. As gentlemanly as he was prolific, he received the LADY BYNG TROPHY 3 times (1983, 1984, 1986).

Bossy suffered a back injury during his tenth season in the league (1986-87) that hampered his play and reduced his playing time. He retired after the season, the only year he did not score 50 goals. He was inducted into the HOCKEY HALL OF FAME in 1991, and he remains a staunch advocate against rough play on the ice. In 2006 he was named the New York Islanders' Executive Director of Corporate Relations.